In medical emergencies and accidents it is often necessary to immobilize a victim or patient prior to transporting the victim to a medical facility. Typically, a patient is placed on an immobilization board, known as a spine board, which maintains the patient in a flat, straight position. Additionally, in order to prevent further injury, the patient's head and neck must be further immobilized, typically by securing the patient's head to the spine board. Prior art devices are complex in design, difficult to apply and remove, and costly to manufacture. For example, the cervical collar disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,043,325, which wraps around a patients neck, requires that the patients head be manipulated in order to secure the collar around the patients neck which can cause further, often irreparable injury in some cases. In most injury cases, one of the most important steps to be taken is the quick and safe immobilization of the patient. If immobilization requires manipulation of the patient's head and/or neck, then the goal of quick and safe immobilization is not realized. Similarly, the emergency neck immobilizer disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,732,144 requires that the patient be manipulated in order to apply the device, and is complex in design and costly to manufacture. While these devices may help to immobilize a patient, they are cumbersome and uncomfortable, and may add to the feeling of anxiety being experienced by the patient, by being overly restrictive. Furthermore, these prior art devices are not designed to be disposable, and therefore, must be sterilized after each use. This presents a hazard of contamination from various bodily fluids and presents an increased health risk.
The prior art fails to provide an economical, sturdy, disposable head and neck immobilization device that is easy to apply and remove, and that allows the patient a decreased level of anxiety by allowing the patient to see and hear what is happening around them, and allowing the patient the ability, if able, to communicate freely with emergency personnel.